Saturday, October 17, 2009

Two frozen tigers seized in Vietnam: newspapers

HANOI — Environmental authorities have seized two frozen tigers in Vietnam, where only a few dozen of the animals remain in the wild, state-linked media said Saturday.

The tigers, weighing 40 and 90 kilograms (88 and 198 pounds) were discovered Friday in a suburban district of Hanoi, said the Thanh Nien newspaper.

At least four people, including the driver of a taxi transporting the animals, have been arrested pending investigations, the paper said.

Police and forest rangers in Hanoi were not available for comment Saturday.

The Tuoi Tre newspaper said one of the accused told police they bought the tigers south of Hanoi in Thanh Hoa province and were bringing them to the capital for sale at the price of two million dong (111 dollars) per kilogram.

There have been at least three similar seizures in Hanoi this year.

Tigers are listed as a protected and endangered species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora that Vietnam is a party to.

Asia's rapid urbanisation has threatened the natural habitat of tigers, which are also hunted for fur and body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine